A friend asked me about how doyletics sheds light on the syndrome of
autism. Doyle and I have talked about this for many years, almost from the
beginning, and it was his original suggestion, as I recall it, that autism
is due to the precocious onset of cognitive memory. In street language --
autistics have early ability to remember stuff. Anyone who asks you about
autism can be directed to this email in the Topica archives. Comments
welcomed.

Here's how Doyle and I see autism: First, and most importantly, it is
NOT a kink in the wiring. Kink presupposes that something's wrong with the
wiring -- like a kink in a hose cuts off the water flow. If this is a kink,
it increases the water flow! that's why "kink" doesn't work.

We look at the limbic system of the brain as the site of the storage of
doyles, probably in the two amygdaline structures. These physical body
state memories are stored with some dim images. When a situation as an
adult occurs that contains aspects of the dim visual memory in the
amygdalas, a doyle is triggered faster than one can think. The neurons that
link the amygdala to the hypothalamus [and thus to the entire
parasympathetic nervous system] bypass the neocortex and thus can cause
doyles to happen "before you know it".

In the autistic child we find a larger "water hose" than other children.
This shows up as an increased capacity for making visual images, for
example, and AT AN EARLIER AGE! Probably due to an increased size of their
neocortex or some advanced pre-wiring of the visual processing part of the
neocortex. Lacking a definitive etiology of autism, we haven't known where
to look, up until now. Looking for a kink is drastically different than
looking for an advanced capability, wouldn't you say?

Doyletics suggests that we look for an advanced capability. Why should we
believe the tenets of doyletics as it impinges on autism? Well, we have a
coherent theory for the etiology of autism and nobody else does so far as
I've been able to discern.

And those researchers working in the field of autism are mostly
looking for kinks that drugs can fix. The likelihood of their success, in
our opinion, is poor. The likelihood of them doing irreparable harm in the
long term while providing temporary drug-based relief is great.

Read my Red Wagon Story for details on our early thoughts on the aetiology
of autism.